The present disclosure relates to the field of panoramic imaging, and more particularly to providing for removing an obstructing object in a panoramic image. The obstructing object is located within a close range of a panoramic imaging system that captures the panoramic image.
Panoramic photography, the taking of a photograph or photographs covering an elongated field of view, has a long history in photography. Perhaps the most primitive method of panoramic photography is the taking of several adjoining photos with a conventional camera and then mounting the prints together in alignment to achieve a complete panorama. Modern techniques adapt this method by using digital cameras to capture the images, and then using computer image processing techniques to align the images for printing as a single panorama.
The continuous development of digital camera technologies along with constantly increasing speed and processing power of computers have laid the foundation for digital imaging systems that are capable of acquiring image data for the automatic creation of wide to entire 360° panoramas, including both still panoramic images and dynamic panoramic movies.
In many panoramic images, one or more undesirable obstructing objects within a close-range of a panoramic imaging system are captured. In some aspects, the obstructing objects may include still objects, such as an equipment that mounts and/or supports panoramic imaging systems including, for example, a tripod. In some aspects, the obstructing objects may include moving objects, such as vehicles accidentally entering into the field of view of the panoramic imaging systems. The obstructing objects may obstruct the target scenes and degrade authenticity and aesthetics of the panoramic images.